


Untitled Raven/Erik Cuddle Ficlet

by not_who_we_are



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Character Study, Gen, erik's pov, post canon cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-22
Updated: 2012-12-22
Packaged: 2017-11-22 00:07:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/603580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/not_who_we_are/pseuds/not_who_we_are
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erik doesn't want to let Raven use him as a pillow, but he does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Untitled Raven/Erik Cuddle Ficlet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [winterhill](https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterhill/gifts).



> I read a prompt from the lovely winterhill in which the desire to explore Raven and Erik's relationship post-canon was expressed.
> 
> Sadly, I didn't have time to write the fully realized tale I wanted to, but I couldn't get the image of Raven sitting with Erik the way she did with Charles.
> 
> Thank you for the lovely thoughts :) Hope you enjoy this little ficlet.

Erik had his nose tucked in a book the first time Raven had slithered under his arm. 

Her head sat perfectly between his eyes and the pages.

His annoyance was immediate, and her complete disregard caught him off guard.

That first time, in their ramshackle version of the mansion, a strange thing happened. Erik’s initial reaction to having his personal space invaded melted into something almost unrecognizable. The warm, relaxed body reclined partially in his lap was no longer a reminder of loss. 

Raven (as he still referred to her when they were alone) had long since stopped being “Charles’s sister.” The bubbly blonde had changed (both literally and figuratively), just as he had. The girl in the mini skirt with the ever-rolling eyes was now his partner. More so than Emma, Raven was his rock. His sounding board. His confidant. 

That night, on the single couch in the “common room,” Raven plopped herself down effortlessly. And as Erik sat almost frozen in perplexed rumination, he realized they had been rather effortless with each other for some time.

They were the only ones who spoke of Charles, not Professor X. At first these discussions, or rather memory regurgitations, were difficult and mostly from Raven. It didn’t take long before Erik joined in. These were things they shared with no one else. Raven had given that to him; the ability to freely remember the man that he still loved. 

He could at least give her this. And he did.

It was unspoken, but Erik believed in his heart that first night she was testing the waters. When she wasn’t immediately ejected, their version of cuddling became a regular thing.

After a skirmish, a battle, or an all-out war, Raven would pad lightly into his room, slip between his eyes and his book, and rest her head on his chest. 

She wouldn’t speak, and he would reposition his book as to actually see it, and they would remain locked like that for countless hours.

Erik could only guess what kind of satisfaction Raven derived from the act. But he knew it made him calmer, grounded him. 

Raven was not his sister, but she was family. And he watched out for her not because she was weak, or for Charles, but because he needed her. 

They needed each other.


End file.
